75TH ANNIVERSARY OF VICTORY OVER NAZI GERMANY
Russia is celebrating on May 9 the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War.
Putin congratulates Russians on Victory Day
© Alexey Druzhinin/TASS
MOSCOW, May 9m 2020 - Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated all veterans of the Soviet Union’s 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War and all Russians on Victory Day. He laid flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall and addressed Russian citizens from the tribune installed near the Eternal Flame.
"Dear veterans, dear friends! From the whole of my heart, I congratulate you on Victory Day. This day is our most important and most cherished holiday. We always celebrate it solemnly across the nation, all together. Victory Day will always have a tremendous spiritual and moral significance and be a sacred date for us," the Russian leader stressed.
The head of state emphasized that "it is our memory and pride, the history of our country and of every family. It is a part of our souls, passed on to us by our parents and grandparents."
On this day, the descendants of the generation of victors "strongly feel the magnitude of their fates as we remember those who are no longer with us and look lovingly at their photographs of different years and wish our veterans a long life," Putin noted.
"They did so much for our Motherland that it is impossible to measure or repay. They saved our country and the future generations; they liberated Europe, protected peace, restored cities and villages and achieved enormous success," the Russian leader stressed.
"We pay tribute and endlessly honor the monumental and selfless heroism of the Soviet people, people of different ethnicities who stood shoulder to shoulder with each other in combat and on the home front," Putin said.
Their courage, unity, dignity and truly unfaltering willpower are timeless, the Russian leader stressed.
This place by the Kremlin Wall is sacred to all of Russians. The Eternal Flame burns here night and day in tribute to those who fell during the Great Patriotic War, to the heroes lying in unknown mass graves near Moscow and Smolensk, Stalingrad and Kursk, Sevastopol and Minsk, Kiev and Riga, Berlin and Vienna, at the Pulkovo Heights, and on the banks of the Neva, the Dnieper, the Danube, the Vistula and the Oder, the Russian leader recalled.
"Millions of those who fell did not live to see the Victory they dreamed of, believing that they would prevail over the enemy and return home. This is what they fought for to their last breath. They sacrificed their lives so that we, our children and grandchildren, and those who are yet to be born live in a world saved and preserved by the Soviet soldier," Putin said.
The Russian leader observed a minute of silence in their memory, suggesting that all Russians bow their heads "in tribute to those who did not return from the war, commemorating our sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, great grandfathers, husbands, wives, brothers and sisters, comrades in arms, relatives and friends."
Putin lays flowers at Eternal Flame near Kremlin wall on WWII Victory Day
© Alexey Druzhinin/Russia's presidential press service/TASS
MOSCOW, May 9m 2020 - Russian President Vladimir Putin laid red roses at the Eternal Flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in the Alexander Garden, paying tribute to those fallen during the Soviet Union’s 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany.
Russia holds air parade over Moscow’s Red Square on Victory Day
Mi-26 military transport rotorcraft and Mi-8AMTSh multirole gunships © Mikhail Metzel/TASS
MOSCOW, May 9, 2020 -
A parade formation of 75 helicopters and aircraft flew over Moscow’s Red Square to mark the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s Victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, TASS reported from the scene.
Traditionally, the air parade started with the flyover of helicopters over Red Square, including the world’s largest Mi-26 military transport rotorcraft, Mi-8AMTSh multirole gunships, Mi-35M transport/attack helicopters, Ka-52 ‘Alligator’ reconnaissance/strike helicopters and the Mi-28N ‘Night Hunter’ helicopter of Russia’s Berkuts sole helicopter aerobatic team.
The flyover of helicopters was followed by an A-50U long-range radar surveillance aircraft, three Il-76MD military transport planes and a trio of Tu-95MS long-range bombers. After that, four Tu-22M3 bombers led by a Tu-160 strategic aircraft appeared in the skies over Moscow’s Red Square. Following that, an Il-78 aerial refueling tanker flew over Red Square together with a Tu-160 strategic bomber imitating mid-air refueling.
They were followed by a quartet of MiG-29SMT multirole frontline fighters and a quartet of Su-24M frontline bombers.
Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, Russian Knights and Swifts aerobatic teams
After that, four MiG-31K interceptor-fighters carrying Kinzhal air-launched hypersonic missiles appeared in the skies over Moscow together with a wing of four fifth-generation Su-57 multirole fighter jets. Two MiG-31K fighters outfitted with Kinzhal hypersonic missiles were the main attraction of the parade’s air component back in 2018. These airborne platforms have been on combat duty in the Russian Army since 2017. A Kinzhal hypersonic missile is capable of flying at over ten times the speed of sound and has an operating range of up to 2,000 km.
After that, "a tactical air wing" of ten aircraft flew over Moscow’s Red Square. The tactical group included Su-34 bombers, Su-30SM and Su-35S fighters.
They were followed by the world’s renowned Russian Knights and Swifts aerobatic teams. The crews of the aerobatic teams flying five Su-30SM and four MiG-29 fighters performed the Cuban Diamond stunt at a speed of about 550 km/h.
The air parade was concluded by six Su-25 attack aircraft. They exhausted special fumes in the colors of the Russian national flag.
The aircraft flew over Moscow’s Red Square at altitudes of 300 meters to 500 meters and at a speed of 500 km/h while the flyover of helicopters took place at an altitude of about 150 meters and at a speed of 200 km/h. Eight aerodromes in the Moscow, Lipetsk, Tver, Ivanovo, Saratov and Kaluga Regions were involved in the flights of aircraft and helicopters.
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Russia should not be silent to belittling of USSR’s role in WWII - ambassador
WASHINGTON, May 9, 2020 - The misinformation campaign unleashed in a number of countries in order to belittle the role of the Soviet Union in the victory over Nazism is unacceptable, and the Russian side should not be silent in response, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told reporters on Saturday.
"The unleashed misinformation campaign in a number of countries and, unfortunately, in the United States, when they try to belittle the role of the Soviet Union or even, moreover, to say that the Soviet Union has started World War II, is simply unacceptable. I can’t even imagine how people can speak such blasphemous words today, knowing that
the Soviets lost 27 million people," he said.
"I believe that we should not stay silent. We should talk about it, but speak calmly, reasonably, try to convey to ordinary Americans, to ordinary people in Europe and all over the world, that it was Soviet soldiers who liberated Europe, they defended the independence of Europe and the Soviet Union, and no one will ever make us forget those times, and no one will ever be able to shake our confidence that the most important thing is to be together in the fight against new challenges and threats. Today it is more important than ever," Antonov added.
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In downtown Moscow, red stars and banners adorn avenues, bridges and famous landmarks such as Kremlin, the Triumphal Arch and the hotel Ukraina. (AFP)
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